Stan
Lewis snapped "The Church of Jim Watson" (named by Stan) or the "Shroud
of Touring" (named by Jeff Hart) photo of Jim. See the halo and crosses?
Many thanks to Stan
Lewis Photography for all three photos
of Jim on this page.

Jim's 24th Annual Cave
Christmas Show2009

Tom
and Gail Watts shot this video of Jim and his family singing "We Three
Kings." Join in!

Click
on this pic of Jim and the one below for larger versions.

An
Appreciation of My Friend Mr. Watsonby Mike Craver

Went
to Jim Watson's Christmas show last night at the Cave. He is amazing. He's
pretty good at this stuff. The place was hot and crowded but the people
were really into the music. The first set he did mostly mid tempo and thoughtful
Christmas songs. Somebody (Joe?) said Watson should make a Christmas album.
If anyone should, he should. (Even more than Bob Dylan -- sorry Bob!)

For
the second set Watson handed around song books and everyone sang along
to the carols, as is the Watson Christmas Cave Show Custom. Chapel Hill
folks love this stuff. Me too. Jim has been doing his Christmas show now
for 24 years. He works hard at them and practices the songs a lot, according
to his wife Anne.

I remember
one day long ago we were doing an in-store promo for Merchants Lunch at
a record store on Franklin Street. We had brought in our instruments and
were doing a short set right there in the midst of the aisles filled with
bins of vinyl. A friend of mine had come to listen.

But
my friend was right. Watson does have that esteemed quality. I've known
him and played music with him for years, through thick and thin. And he
always just stands up there and commits to it 100 pecent. I have never
known him not to, no matter what. Never moody, never tempermental. And
he has surely learned from the years of tirelessly working and doing it
well -- his voice is always clear as a bell, his diction perfect. And it
comes across, because people like to listen to him and he makes them smile
and makes them happy -- old folks, young folks, family, strangers, hipsters,
squares.

I left
after the second set, because I had a long drive back. But Watson always
does a third set at his Cave show.

"Not
just two sets, like these wimps today," he quipped.

Somebody
else (Joe?) was saying it's also because Watson is 100 percent comfortable
with himself and who he is. One can't say that about a lot of people, particularly
in this Age of Anxiety and Uncertainty. (But then, what Age isn't?) Which
makes one appreciate people like Watson all the more. Deck the Halls!

Two
more Watts videos: "Christmas in the Trenches above and "Here Comes Santa
Claus" below.